Religious authorities announce new Satmar Hasidim leader

The leader of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect who died this week arranged for an organized succession by naming one of his sons as the next grand rabbi of the Satmar Hasidim, religious authorities announced Thursday.

In his will, Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, who died Monday at the age of 91, recognized Zalmen Teitelbaum, the third of his four sons, as the next rebbe, or grand rabbi.

“He shall occupy my position and succeed me without any shortfall, for effective immediately I have granted him the position,” Moses Teitelbaum wrote in his will.

But the decision, announced by the Satmars’ Rabbinical Court, is unlikely to settle the divisive issue of succession that has pitted Zalmen Teitelbaum, 54, against his eldest brother, Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, 58, of Kiryas Joel, a town about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of New York City.

That is because Aron Teitelbaum has thousands of his own followers who believe he is the rightful successor.

The brothers have been feuding over the question for years. In 2004, a judge in Brooklyn refused to rule in the sons’ dispute over the heir to the Satmar sect, saying the matter was for the grand rabbi to decide. In October, a scuffle broke out outside the Williamsburg synagogue between supporters of the two brothers during a procession marking the Simchas Torah holiday.

In his will, Moses Teitelbaum also directed that “not one of my descendants or among the persons within the community shall challenge or commit any act to diminish the powers of the above-mentioned appointment.”

Moses Teitelbaum led the Satmar congregation in Brooklyn after the death of his uncle, Grand Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, in 1979. He helped guide the fast-growing Satmar Hassidim in Brooklyn, Israel and other spots around the world.

The Satmar Hasidic sect has between 65,000 to 75,000 followers in the United States, almost all of whom live in New York state. The biggest congregations are in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood and the town of Kiryas Joel.

Moses Teitelbaum was buried in Kiryas Joel early Tuesday after a service in Williamsburg that drew thousands of followers filled with intense grief.

In 1999, Moses Teitelbaum summoned Zalmen Teitelbaum back from Jerusalem, where he was serving as the Satmars’ chief rabbi. Upon his return, the father named the son chief rabbi of the Satmars’ main synagogue in Williamsburg.

“Leaders of the Satmar community expressed the fervent hope that with the naming of Rabbi Zalmen Teitelbaum as Grand Rabbi, divisions which have afflicted this community in recent years will now heal,” according to a Satmar statement released Tuesday.

The Satmars emphasize tradition and adhere to a strict dress code - long skirts for women, long black coats, black hats and long beards for men. Marriages are arranged and married women must keep their heads covered.

The sect takes its name from the town of Satu Mare in what is now Romania.

Moses Teitelbaum was born in Siget, in present-day Romania. He escaped Nazi persecution during World War II and came to the U.S. in 1946.

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